Mackenzie Croy, 18, has watched from the sidelines nearly her entire life. This year she is a senior, so it was her last chance to be a high school cheerleader. "It was her dream to be a cheerleader," ...

Sarah Cronk’s voice breaks when she recalls fans at a 2008 Pleasant Valley High School football game roaring “Let’s go Sparkles, let’s go.” She was a cheerleader at the Bettendorf, Iowa, school ...

Quick: What comes to mind when you think of high school cheerleaders? The catfighting smack-talkers in "Bring It On?" Sue Sylvester's conniving Cheerios on "Glee?" That awful Pamela chick who kept ...

The Sparkle Effect, a program that began in the Quad-Cities and has gone nationwide, has received a major monetary award that will allow it to reach the next level, Sarah Cronk, one of its co-founders ...